Local Star Aimee Ogden (the lemonade war series txt) š
- Author: Aimee Ogden
Book online Ā«Local Star Aimee Ogden (the lemonade war series txt) šĀ». Author Aimee Ogden
The Scooper was finished. Triz stood up and looked at her hands. Sheād raised a blister on the heel of one thumb. It would heal. It would have to. She needed to fill the fuel tanks. She needed to work faster.
The soft patter of falling water reached her ears. The sound stopped her completely.
Her head turned toward the wrenchworks office, and her body followed. She stepped over Kaloās wadded shirt on the floor, his trousers, his boots. The fading emergency lights lit the office a dull blue; she pushed on the half-closed door to the staff shower, where Kalo sat beneath the spray. He mightāve been here the whole time she worked. It was closed-circuit water, devoted to the works, so there was no ration to use up. But he must have used up the remaining heat without the ambient generators flowing to power the heating elements: his skin was raised in gooseflesh.
So he didnāt leave after all.
āKalo. Get out of there.ā
āI thought of rescuing Casne before you did, you know. Not with a starfighter, just on my own two feet. Shooting my way into Justice like the hero in a bad āport drama.ā He turned his hands palm upward; one collected water, while droplets cascaded down the slack one. āIf Iād had the conviction to act right away . . .ā
āYouād probably be in a Justice cell yourself. Or maybe youād be dead too.ā Dead. That word jumped in Trizās mouth. It made things too real, brought them in from their safe distance. She edged forward, put herself under the icy spray of the shower. The cold cut her to the bone, and the water washed away the things she couldnāt handle yet. One thing at a time. And at this time, she needed a pilot.
At this time, she needed someone who wasnāt gone.
She put her arms around him and shared his shivering. The elbows of her shirt wept dirty water. Triz didnāt cry. She wasnāt ready to open that reservoir yet. It ran deep, and she didnāt want to look at the things lurking below the surface. Sheād already mourned once, for the Casne who was unjustly arrested; she couldnāt plumb those depths afresh already. She reached over her head and turned the water shutoff. āKalo,ā she said. She put her hand on his neck; he lifted his head and met her eyes. āWe need to move.ā
He complied and climbed to his feet. Some vestige of military discipline kicking in. They found spare clothes in the crew lockers. Triz dressed in her own clean tunic and leggings; she rifled through the othersā things to produce something usable for Kalo. He shrugged into one of her old shirts, which stretched too tight across his shoulders, and cinched a pair of Quelianās sagging pants about his waist. There was nothing for it but to shove his feet back into his own sodden boots. āAre you spaceworthy?ā she asked, and his chin jerked in a nod. āGood.ā
From the wrenchworks proper, a rhythmic banging echoed its way to them. Triz stiffened; Kaloās head came up. āRocan,ā he said, and he was already striding toward the door.
Before he left the office, Kaloās good hand went to an empty pocket where a Fleet sidearm might usually rest. He looked over his shoulder at Triz, and if he was afraid, it didnāt show on his face. āStay here. Iāll take care of this.ā
āWhat are you going to do, slap him to death?ā Triz swallowed irritation with an undercurrent of anxiety and shoved in front of him so she alone occupied the office doorway. She craned her neck for a better view of the wrenchworks. āBesides, Iām not so sure itās him.ā Kalo made an irritated noise and wedged himself between her and the door. The sound repeated itself: the same pattern of knocks sheād heard the first time. āThat wasnāt coming from the lift, it was coming from . . .ā
āThe airlock,ā he finished. He slammed her arm aside and crossed the works at a dead run before she knew what was happening.
āWait!ā He was already keying in an order at the terminal at the base of the works. Beneath Trizās feet, the floor hummed and jumped as mechanical gears ground together. The outer airlock was dilating, and gods only knew what lay on the other side. āWhat are you doing? If thereās a Ceebee entry team out there, we donāt stand a chance.ā
āItās not an entry team.ā The humming beneath Trizās feet stopped briefly, then began cycling again. Closing the outer doors, pumping air into the sealed chamber. She stepped back from the lock, avoiding the lifttrain that would have hefted whatever wounded ship waited inside. Maybe a canister of spray sealant could function as a makeshift weaponāif she could find a hose she could spray it in an unguarded faceā
The inner doors dilated with a hiss of cold, misty air. Kalo dropped to his belly at the widening rim. āGive me your hand,ā he said, and thrust one arm, his good one, down into the lock. Five space-dark fingers with frost-spangled stars closed around his wrist.
Trizās heart leaped sideways in her chest. She ran across the works and left skin on the decking where she threw herself down beside Kalo. Casne clung one-handed to Kaloās arm: She must have jumped from the bottom of the lock ten feet below. Triz stretched with both arms and Casne flung her free hand up to grab a second hold. Her fingers were so cold they burned, but Triz didnāt care. Casneās boots paddled the misty air, but she cranked her head back to find Triz. Ice rimed her face. Her frozen features were split into a stupid grin.
Trizās throat spasmed. āI couldāve gotten a ladder if youād waited one shitting minute.ā Her arms strained, Kalo grunted, and then they were moving back as Casneās boots found purchase on the lip of the airlock. For a moment, they all stared at
Comments (0)